I’ve decided to take your advice and submit my work to a literary agency. It took a few days fighting doubts and a couple of phone conversations with my parents to make that decision and now I feel scared and exited at the same time.
I’ve done some research during the last week and it made me realise that getting a book published is a long and complicated process. The first thing that I came across was Rejection. Don’t get discouraged by rejections. It’s all right to get a lot of rejections. Everyone gets rejections. Etcetera, etcetera. Oh well, at least I’ll know what to expect...
Next, on to the agents’ websites. I’ve used Writers & Artists web resource and chosen a handful of agencies to submit to. Yes, a handful. I know they prefer you submit to one agent at a time, but surely if I am to expect rejections, I’ve got to hedge my bets. Besides, I might get some feedback on the quality of my writing and feedback is something I’ll gratefully accept.
Submission guidelines. Submission guidelines are fairly similar for all the agents I’ve selected. You need:
• Cover Letter: who you are, what you’re writing about, why
• Three Sample Chapters: preferably first three and definitely in order (i.e. no 1, 5, 17)
• Synopsis: a condensed summary of the whole novel, typically no more than one page.
It doesn’t take long looking through author support websites to see that Synopsis is the hardest beast to conquer here. No wonder. You have to tell the whole story on a single page. Not a teaser, not a blurb. A full story, listing the main characters, main events, main struggles and, of course, the ending. I guess now I’m beginning to understand why they call brevity the sister of talent.
I’m planning to spend the whole of next week getting ready to submit Snowflake and a proposal for the Gardener. I’ll be writing the Evil Synopsis itself, which brings me onto the question of today’s post: How do you write a synopsis that is brief yet detailed, intriguing yet revealing, professional yet artistic?
Saturday 22 August 2009
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Couple of bits of advice for writing a good synopsis. Synopsis should always be written in present tense and in third person. You should concentrate on your main characters and main events. Don’t introduce minor characters, detailed subplots and dialogs. Do your best and try not to worry too much. I’ve read that excessive worrying shows up in your synopsis making you look less professional.
ReplyDeleteSpend some time making a good plan before you attempt write your synopsis. Keep to the specified format given in the submission guidelines, but still make sure to write in the same style as you used in your novel. Also, make sure that the finished text is logically sound and that it clearly shows the main idea behind your book.
ReplyDeleteI read that synopsis is a secret weapon for authors who know what they’re doing. Before you send yours off, read it to somebody who can really help and give useful advice on your work. Maybe even read it to yourself in front of a mirror or pretend to be an agent reading someone else’s synopsis. Don’t submit your book until you got rid of all your doubts.
ReplyDeleteSee good selection of sample synopses here.
ReplyDeleteSynopsis is like a litmus paper of your work, if you worked hard and wrote a good book, than you’ve nothing to worry about.
ReplyDeleteYou know I ain’t a writer… though I’m getting to like the idea of becoming one.So I’ll stick to my own point of view. Enjoy whatever you do and it will turn out all right. Don’t worry, relax, have fun. As you said rejections are ok, so see how it goes with this batch of agents and if all of them are negative, you’ll know there’s something that needs changing. There’s always that next time!!
ReplyDeleteDon’t be greedy and pay an independent reader, e.g. The Hilary Johnson Authors’ Advisory Service. It’s the only way you’ll get useful feedback on your manuscript, synopsis, cover letter, etc. You should get professional critique and editing of your work if you want to become a professional.
ReplyDeleteI don’t know much about literary agents, so I can’t give any advice. I just want to say that I’m glad you’re thinking of getting your books published. If you’re successful, your experience will be truly inspiring to all of us.
ReplyDelete